Turtle Lesson #1: If there is one lesson I remember from the many afternoon fables of grade school story hour, it is the infamous mantra from the Tortoise and the Hare. I’ve never been particularly gifted in the art of patience, but as Aesop so simply and elegantly put it, “Slow and steady wins the race.” As one who frequently shakes fists of fury at sluggish stoplights, I am resolving to remind myself of this unpretentious and straightforward wisdom.

Turtle Lesson #2: For those smarty-pants out there who are reading this and saying to themselves, “hey…..Aesop wrote about a tortoise, not a turtle…” I give you a few lines to ponder from Lewis Carroll’s tale of the Mock Turtle:

“When we were little…we went to school in the sea. The master was an old turtle – we used to call him Tortoise—“

“Why did you call him Tortoise, if he wasn’t one?” Alice asked.

“We called him Tortoise because he taught us,” said the Mock Turtle.

To sum up: sometimes what we say is exactly what we mean, even if at first glance it isn’t exactly what it seems. As cynicism tends to be my go-to mode of communication, I resolve to keep this bit of mock turtle whit in mind this year.

Turtle Lesson #3: The Mi’kmaq tribe of the New England-Quebec area have a legend about the turtle that goes something like this:

Turtle was a great storyteller, and every summer he would entertain his animal friends with many tales. But when fall came and his friends began to migrate or hibernate, Turtle was left alone. Winter came, and Turtle nearly froze to death. In the spring, when his friends returned, he asked them why they had all abandoned him. They told him he had been too busy entertaining others to learn how to fend for himself. So, that summer, Turtle spent more time thinking and less time talking. This introspection led him to understand how to hibernate. When winter came again, Turtle crawled into the mud to rest and think of many new stories to tell his friends the following summer.

Another elegantly simple lesson – be good to yourself so that you may be in the positive spirit to be good to others.

About the outfit: This playful, shell-pink rayon and lace blouse is perfect for layering – no tags, found at a thrift store for $10. The velvet skirt is a vintage ‘70’s piece made by The Villager – another $10 thrift store find. These Frye boots are my most recent prized possession – got them from a friend at a clothing exchange!

 About the jewelry: The earrings, made by Hazel Cox, are hand-hammered bronze, silver chain, and black pearls. The ring, by Red Stag Jewelry, is silver, petrified herringbone wood, black pearl, and white sapphire.

Many thanks to Bethany Walter for the photos, the Visual Arts Collective for throwing such a fantastic New Year’s Eve party, to Bob Stimpart for making such gregarious little clay creatures.

Thanks for reading, and remember what the humble turtle teaches us, folks – be patient, don’t be so quick to assume you know all the answers, and take good care of yourself.